The invention relates to miter saws and, in particular, to a bevel angle adjustment mechanism for a compound miter saw.
Compound miter saws typically include a base having a support surface for supporting a workpiece. A turntable is mounted on the base for rotation about a vertical axis. The turntable typically includes a support mounted on the turntable for rotation and a cutting unit is connected to the support for pivotal movement about a first horizontal axis between non-cutting and cutting positions. The cutting unit is also connected to the support for pivotal movement about a horizontal bevel angle axis to allow compound miter cutting of the workpiece. Prior art constructions allow adjustment of the cutting unit about the bevel angle axis from a 0xc2x0 bevel angle, wherein the cutting unit is in a vertical position, to a 45xc2x0 (from vertical) bevel angle position. Adjustment through this range allows the user to make bevel angle cuts of the workpiece at any angle between 0xc2x0 and 45xc2x0.
Occasionally, the need arises to cut the workpiece at a bevel angle of less than 0xc2x0 or greater than 45xc2x0. This need typically arises when cutting a piece of molding or trim to fit into the corner of a room that is not true, i.e., the walls of the room do not meet in the corner at exactly 90xc2x0 relative to one another.
In other cases, when attempting to join the pieces of wood together, it is necessary to engage in a practice commonly known as back-cutting of the workpiece. By way of example, in order to join two pieces of base board together end-to-end to form a smooth continuous outer surface, it is common to file or cut off the back of the boards leaving an edge at the outer (exposed) surface of each board that can be joined together to form the smooth continuous outer surface. This process of back-cutting can be time consuming.
The invention provides a miter saw including a base having a support surface for supporting a workpiece and a turntable mounted on the base for rotation about a generally vertical axis. A support is mounted on the turntable for rotation therewith and a cutting unit is connected to the support for pivotal movement about a first horizontal pivot axis between non-cutting and cutting positions. The cutting unit is also pivotable about a second horizontal axis or bevel angle axis which is perpendicular to the vertical plane in which the first horizontal axis lies. Adjustment of the cutting unit about the bevel angle axis allows compound miter cutting of the workpiece.
The miter saw also includes a bevel angle adjustment mechanism which connects the cutting unit to the support and allows selective adjustment of the cutting unit about the bevel angle axis. The bevel angle adjustment mechanism allows adjustment of the cutting unit between a xe2x88x925xc2x0 (relative to vertical) bevel angle position and a 50xc2x0 (relative to vertical) bevel angle position thereby allowing cutting of a workpiece at bevel angles beyond 0xc2x0 (vertical) in one direction and beyond 45xc2x0 (i.e. greater than 45xc2x0) in the opposite direction and also allowing use of the saw to back-cut a workpiece.
The bevel angle adjustment mechanism includes a spring member mounted between the support and the cutting unit. The spring member is mounted between the support and the cutting unit so that the cutting unit is freely manually movable within a range of 0xc2x0 (vertical) and 45xc2x0 and is adjustable against the biasing force of the spring in one direction from 0xc2x0 (vertical) to xe2x88x925xc2x0 from vertical, and against the biasing force of the spring member in the opposite direction from a bevel angle position of 45xc2x0 from vertical to a position 50xc2x0 from vertical.
A principal advantage of the invention is the provision of a miter saw having a bevel angle adjustment mechanism allowing adjustment of the cutting unit about the bevel angle axis beyond the bevel angle position that is 45xc2x0 from vertical in one direction to a position 50xc2x0 from vertical and beyond vertical in the opposite direction to a bevel angle position xe2x88x925xc2x0 from vertical.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims and drawings.